@Edgar Allan Pillow Why are you not changing formation here? Playing 5-4-1 against Snipers' team is ridicules! If you play Rui Costa in here you'll get both Baggio and Costa and the only one to take them on will be Pirlo, that will be a game winner for me right there.Maldini and Lucio can handle Papin without any fear from you're end... I don't know whats taking you long to make the change, but as things lie I don't see any reason to vote for you, because you're flopping it.
RedCafe Sheep Draft - Edgar Allan Pillow vs Snipers Breath
- Thread starter Moby
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Don't you think Rui should come instead of Sanchis? no reason playing a sweeper here...
Rui Costa the super-sub has now come on in a tight game to pick apart the opposition defence.
That will work even better, thought he might swap him for cambiasso as he wanted a five man defense.
also,@VivaJanuzaj Whose team will be on top in our match? Need to send in my team.
I would have benched Cambiasso myself. No strong words from Branco on the way out? Thought he would be having a good game here.
I'd like to think mine
I've sent everything yesterdayOkay thanks. Sending mine in, hope everyone is in the right positionI'd like to think mine
The initial formation shouldn't have been deleted, no one will have a clue what the majority of the discussion has been about.
But this is of course a much better team, no idea why Edgar didn't change it earlier.
But this is of course a much better team, no idea why Edgar didn't change it earlier.
Yep, a couple more minutes without changing and I would've voted for Snipers' team. Playing Rui Costa as a sub is mental against any team, let alone in this match.
Initially EAP was expecting Sniper to play the team above with Papin and Falcao up top - a considerable goal threat - in front of a compact diamond with Aimar, Gerrard, Gazza and Pirlo. Dropping Rui Costa in place of a 3rd centre back was a reasonable decision as far as I'm concerned. Not one that everyone is going to agree with but hardly a completely unjustified one. The two up top were goal machines and nothing else so you can choose to defend against that in two ways - have two physically imposing centre backs stuck tight to them all game (as they're not going to drift very far) or cut off the supply line. Maldini and Lúcio can match up against Papin and Falcao all day long safe in the knowledge that Sanchís is sweeping up effortlessly behind them. Ballack on Pirlo isn't exactly Park on Pirlo but you can't deny he'd prove to be a disruptive presence in their build-up and on the flip side it leaves Ballack in his best position and in a position where he can run off the back of Pirlo again and again and bulldoze through him as he makes a trademark late run into the box.
You could say that having Cambiasso in there on top of the 5-man backline is overkill and the extra defender allows you to have an extra creative player in there - e.g. Boban and Prosinecki in the same midfield trio for Croatia - but I personally don't think that's wise against the midfield four he has. Gazza, Gerrard, Aimar and Pirlo...every one of them poses a potential problem every time they got on the ball. Alonso is a very steady presence in midfield and Ballack won't shirk his defensive duties, but there's a lack of energy and dynamism in there and that seems a foolish way to take on Gazza and Gerrard with the creativity either side of them. Cambiasso for me is absolutely key here. He's exactly the kind of player that Sniper's lacking in the midfield and exactly the kind of player every single one of his midfielders was accustomed to having support them. Ballack and Alonso of course don't need the same support but with Rui Costa on now I think it'd be almost suicidal to take him out of the side.
That was the original thinking anyway. Surprised to see Di Maria picked over Falcao obviously and there was no turning back once the teamsheets went up. Abandoning the strategy entirely within a few minutes would be a knee-jerk, panic-driven decision. Much easier to let things play out and re-evaluate at a later point. There's also the fact that Edgar was sleeping and his assistant was busy doing work and other things that take place outside of the world of fantasy drafts and football forums.
While obviously getting in Rui Costa was a much needed change I don't think the team would have found it difficult to score earlier. Ballack was a really effective weapon in attack and showed up with goals/telling contributions in top occasions. I've always believed he should have received the Ballon D'or in 02 ahead of Fenomeno who missed a large part of first half of that year Ballack had a kickass WC just like Ronaldo but also took Leverkusen to the final of CL with important goals on the way. If I am not wrong weren't Leverkusen very close to winning the treble that season and ended up losing all 3 right at the end?
Although i don't see Cambiasso as this dedicated DM, but the energy of Ballack and Costa would certainly help the team. Cambiasso 'failed' at Madrid becauase he was seen as a mere DM.
Anyway, I had Baggio on my previous all time draft, so did a lot of digging on memories and footage. My goodness. He might cost 150m now, when you see how much Bale and Neyma
On Snipers, I'd have a truo of Pirlo, Gerrard and Gascoigne in midifield, with Aimar supporting Falcao and Papin. It's more balance, instead of this seemingly 'lightweight' midfield, imho
Anyway, I had Baggio on my previous all time draft, so did a lot of digging on memories and footage. My goodness. He might cost 150m now, when you see how much Bale and Neyma
On Snipers, I'd have a truo of Pirlo, Gerrard and Gascoigne in midifield, with Aimar supporting Falcao and Papin. It's more balance, instead of this seemingly 'lightweight' midfield, imho
I think most of us did TBH. I'm surprised how close it was despite Sniper fielding what I think is not his best XI. For a moment I actually thought it was all a ploy to force you into a sub. In fact, he could do just that now
It's a fair point, still not sure you needed all three of those + Rui Costa, while unshackling the fullbacks seemed far more important/useful. Maybe Alonso?
This has to be the worst non group-stage CL game I've ever seen. Probably worse than 99% of group stage ones as well.
Bit harsh on Edgar and Sniper there.
@MJJ
Was asleep mate.
Thing is as mentioned, though the last formation was less than optimal, it should have been enough to win.
Rock solid defence meaning opponent cannot score.
Fullbacks giving width
Attack through Ballack, Baggio, Sheva with Alonso controlling from deep.
How do you think my opponent can score or win?
Indeed. Can't believe I skipped training tonight to stay at home and watch that.
I see it. I intended not to vote in account of no goals for any team. I also understood @Brwned 's comments about you're thoughts Sniper will start two strikers and it's to cancel their effect. That could have changed my mind too.
Anyway, great team.
Voted for Edgar, he has a much stronger spine and overall his team is more balanced. Still don't see how Snipers side can win the ball back when they lose it. Pirlo will do flap all defensively, leaving Rui Costa to control the game.
I can see that 5-2-1-2 work better with Edgar's, thus freeing those fabolous attacking wingbacks. Cambiasso and Ballack in two CM would be preferred.
I was really hoping Sniper would make the change to 2 strikers upfront soon after Edgar's sub and then banging on about, how he again has outsmarted the opponent and now has that significant advantage Edgar wanted to avoid at the start 
. That would have been great and I probably would have given Sniper the vote for it. Overall I like Edgar's team better, even though I'm really no big fan of Jorginho. I could see him getting in trouble here quite a lot against di Maria/Lizarazu, but with the way both teams are lined-up now, Edgar gets my vote.
. That would have been great and I probably would have given Sniper the vote for it. Overall I like Edgar's team better, even though I'm really no big fan of Jorginho. I could see him getting in trouble here quite a lot against di Maria/Lizarazu, but with the way both teams are lined-up now, Edgar gets my vote.This was the conundrum I had last night. I still think even with my old defensive setup, there is no way for Sniper to score whereas with wingbacks + my front 2, I can sneak a couple in. But then I haven't had any comments from anyone who voted for Sniper except two posts each from MJJ & Theon. Weird, getting rolled over by scan voters!I was really hoping Sniper would make the change to 2 strikers upfront soon after Edgar's sub and then banging on about, how he again has outsmarted the opponent and now has that significant advantage Edgar wanted to avoid at the start
If you feck up your tactics, it's more likely that your players make mistakes though
. If your op wasn't that specific about the opponent and how you counter him best, it would have been easier to assume that your team knows how to react to different situations on the pitch . Anyway, it's a great team, you drafted really well.May I ask, what was your prefered player, if you hadn't been so 'unlucky' to get Maldini in the last round?
Voting for Edgar considering he has a good balance between offense and defense which I think Sniper is missing. Personally think that Sniper would be much more dangerous in possession than Edgar but he has traded that offensive potency for defensive stability. Against Edgars diamond ideally youd desire to win the ball back quickly which would render his great full backs much less useful and Sniper wont be able to do that at all. So Edgar will get his width from his fullbacks provided and he will be in no rush to find his chances and I think he will win most of those 50-50 duels which are important for dominating possession and the game.
My first choice was always Matthaus. Brwned wanted to try for Rijkaard and Thiago Silva. We wrote Rijkaard off. I thought if I could hold my real picks to later rounds chances are better as everyone will be blocking everyting in 1st round. So Thiago was to be my 2nd round pick and Matthaus as 3rd round pick.
Infact it was @antohan strategy that got me Maldini. I had a all Brazilian back 4 that I was happy with and did not need reinforcements there. So per anto's strategy, thought I will block the defenders and so picked Maldini (in order to block him) and blocked Thiago Silva (whom I wanted). 2nd round was to pick Silva and block Matthaus and then pick Matthaus in 3rd round (whom I really wanted).
Infact my strategy would have failed as @VivaJanuzaj blocked Mattahus in 3rd round too. But anto's strategy 'sadly' got me Maldini
Edit:- anto's strategy: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-first-redcafe-sheep-draft.384211/page-106#post-15130982
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My first choice was always Matthaus. Brwned wanted to try for Rijkaard and Thiago Silva. We wrote Rijkaard off. I thought if I could hold my real picks to later rounds chances are better as everyone will be blocking everyting in 1st round. So Thiago was to be my 2nd round pick and Matthaus as 3rd round pick.
Infact it was @antohan strategy that got me Maldini. I had a all Brazilian back 4 that I was happy with and did not need reinforcements there. So per anto's strategy, thought I will block the defenders and so picked Maldini (in order to block him) and blocked Thiago Silva (whom I wanted). 2nd round was to pick Silva and block Matthaus and then pick Matthaus in 3rd round (whom I really wanted).
Infact my strategy would have failed as @VivaJanuzaj blocked Mattahus in 3rd round too. But anto's strategy 'sadly' got me Maldini
Edit:- anto's strategy: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the-first-redcafe-sheep-draft.384211/page-106#post-15130982
Worked out great for you! I actually thought of getting Rijkaard or Matthaus too, central midfield wasn't the first position to upgrade at my team but these are players you want to play for you soooo badly :lol
Everyone did, which is why no one got them Pol was very jammy to get Redondo, I had planned to block him in that round but once I saw Romario go through I was more concerned about the second tier of forwards with Ronaldinho, Henry, Figo...
Pol was very jammy to get Redondo, I had planned to block him in that round but once I saw Romario go through I was more concerned about the second tier of forwards with Ronaldinho, Henry, Figo...@Snipers Breath good game, mate!